Star Wars: Battlefront 2 Angers the Internet, Causes Changes at EA

Star Wars: Battlefront 2 Angers the Internet, Causes Changes at EA

Based on the popularity of Star Wars: Battlefront, there was a lot of excitement from the gaming community for the follow-up. That is, right up until details about how the mechanics of the game would work became public. Following the latest trend in gaming, EA introduced micro-transactions into their flagship AAA title, something that is usually reserved for casual mobile games.

This decision began an immediate backlash from the gaming community, even before the extent of the decision had been revealed. As the release date came closer, and players got a look at the game, it was revealed that large portions of the game, including prime characters, were locked behind an in-game currency system. For example, if you would like to bring Vader into the game, it will cost you about 40 hours of play time. The other option, rather than using playtime to unlock characters, you could spend real-world money to purchase currency. If you wanted to unlock all aspects of the game, it would cost $2,100, making the $80 game cost relatively insignificant. You could also play the game for 4,528 hours, or 189 days.

In response, the internet, and particularly Reddit, took EA to task, accusing them of theft and refusing to purchase the game. Initially, EA didn't seem to take notice, but, in the end, EA did seem to realize the problem they had created. The company released a statement, in which they vaguely apologized for misunderstanding how players wanted to be charged for additional content.

We hear you loud and clear, so we're turning off all in-game purchases. We will now spend more time listening, adjusting, balancing and tuning. This means that the option to purchase crystals in the game is now offline, and all progression will be earned through gameplay. The ability to purchase crystals in-game will become available at a later date, only after we've made changes to the game. We'll share more details as we work through this.

In addition to removing crystals from the game, for now, they have also changed the rate at which in-game currency is rewarded. In fact, they have cut the requirements by 75%, meaning that the 189 days is now only 47 days of playtime. If someone plays the game 3 hours per day, every day, it would now take just over a year, as opposed to nearly 4.5 years previously. As for now, this is a win for gamers, but will not last forever.